Robert Hertz, Anthropophagic Practices and Traditional South Fore Mortuary Rites in Papua New Guinea

Dados Bibliográficos

ID13628845
AutoresJerome Whitfield (0000-0003-4878-0897, MRC Prion Unit at UCL, autor correspondente), Wandagi H Pako (Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research), Michael P Alpers (Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research)
Ano2024
Volume93
Fascículo1
Páginas420-438
Data de publicação2024-03-08
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00302228241239210
PMID38458237
OpenAlexW4392581495
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas15

In this paper we examine the traditional mortuary rites of the South Fore people of Papua New Guinea using Robert Hertz's theory of secondary burial and the three mechanisms of mourning identified by Daniel Lagache. The ethnographic data that we obtained on South Fore interpretations of their own mortuary rites showed that all forms of corpse handling achieved the same end results through the process of secondary burial. Furthermore, the three mechanisms of mourning applied equally to all forms of corpse disposal and we found no evidence to support psychosexual interpretations of mortuary anthropophagy which emphasise aggression. South Fore interpretations of mortuary anthropophagy show that the dead were eaten out of love, and to protect the mourners from the painful emotion of witnessing the decomposition of the corpse. These findings affirm the relevance of the concepts of Hertz and Lagache to the universal human experiences of death and mourning

Ancient history · Archaeology · Ethnography · Ethnology · Hertz · New guinea · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Engineering · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · History